Ecologies of Artistic Practice: Ashley Lee Wong in conversation with Mattia Casalegno & Alex Darby
🗓️ Thursday, April 9, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM 📍 Onassis ONX, 390 Broadway Floor 4, New York
How do artists working at the nexus of art and technology negotiate a means to make art in today’s creative economy? Join Ashley Lee Wong, the author of Ecologies of Artistic Practice: Rethinking Cultural Economies through Art and Technology (MIT Press, 2025), as she provides unique insights into the diverse creative and economic processes that shape the meaning and value of artworks.
The evening will begin with Ashley Lee Wong presenting key ideas from the book, followed by short talks and live discussion between Ashley Lee Wong and interdisciplinary artists Mattia Casalegno and Alex Darby, each bringing their own perspective on the ecologies — sensory, economic, and relational — that shape how art is made and experienced today.
Physical copies of the book will be available to purchase during the event. A free, Open Access version of the book can also be read online here.
Book Description:
An in-depth look at how we make and circulate art today, and how creative and economic processes shape the meaning and value of artworks.
In Ecologies of Artistic Practice, Ashley Lee Wong explores the economic relationships of artists working at the nexus of art and technology as they negotiate a means to make art in a neoliberal creative economy. Wong looks at the diverse ways in which artworks circulate, both online and offline, in galleries, on digital platforms, and on media facades, and investigates some of the mechanisms that enable artists to create works, including selling artworks and NFTs, grants, licensing, commissions, and artist residencies. The book also looks at the ways in which artists collaborate with corporations and develop practices as commercial entities themselves.
The book provides unique insights into the diverse creative and economic processes that shape the meaning and value of artworks. Wong seeks to shift away from notions of individual authorship and finite artworks that can be bought and sold, and instead toward an understanding of artistic practices as collaborative, social, and cultural processes. Rather than critique this economy, Ecologies of Artistic Practice opens space for engaging in hypercommercialized contexts, while considering how money is not an end goal, but a means to initiate or continue an artistic process.
Speaker Biographies:
Ashley Lee Wong, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Cultural Studies and Associate Director of the MA Cultural Management programme at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is Co-Founder and Artistic Director of MetaObjects, a studio that facilitates digital projects with artists and cultural institutions. She is the author of the monograph Ecologies of Artistic Practice: Rethinking Cultural Economies through Art and Technology (The MIT Press, 2025).
Mattia Casalegno is an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores the physical and sensory perceptions of its viewers, creating experiences that are fully immersive, sensorially embodied, and psychologically heightened. He has exhibited in over 100 international venues including SIGGRAPH Asia, ISEA, Mutek, Superblue Museum, the Cini Foundation, and RomaEuropa Festival. His work has been featured in publications such as A Touch of Code (Gestalten), Tactics of Interfacing (MIT Press), and Deleuze and Audiovisual Art, as well as in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CNN, and Hyperallergic, among others. He has received grants and fellowships from NEW INC, the Center for Cultural Innovation, NYFA, and the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, and was awarded a Lumen Prize in 2018.
Alex Darby is an interdisciplinary artist, creative producer, and cultural strategist whose work is rooted in the power of artistic collaboration. She is the founder of The Hybrid Studio, a lab for new media art practice that combines artist management and creative production. Guided by curiosity, curatorial inquiry, and an entrepreneurial spirit, Darby's practice merges experimentation, systems thinking, and artist mentorship to cultivate vibrant, sustainable ecosystems for creative work. Her interdisciplinary projects have been presented globally at Canyon, MoMA, New Museum, Performa, Aurora, SXSW, NTMoFA, Serendipity Arts Festival, NY Live Arts, MANA Contemporary and featured in The New York Times, Wired, Fast Company, Forbes, Creators Project, and NY1.
ABOUT ONASSIS ONX Onassis ONX is the Onassis Foundation’s global platform dedicated to elevating innovative creators in the development, presentation, and distribution of new media artworks and immersive experiences. It provides artists and teams with capacity-building programs, incubation and applied research initiatives, acceleration services, seed funding, exhibition opportunities, fellowships, and partnership-driven collaborations through its hubs in Athens and New York City. This holistic engagement throughout the creative process enables artists to build worlds at the frontiers of AI, immersive, spatial computing, gaming, and other emergent time-based media. Onassis ONX provides a stage for creatives to imagine new futures by questioning the systems through which culture is produced, circulated, and remembered, actively fostering new forms of creative expression to meaningfully engage with audiences around the world.
Address + Directions
390 Broadway, Floor 4, New York, NY 10013
By Subway: N/Q/R/W/J/Z/6 to Canal Street
Specific ADA considerations
Visitors can enter the building at 390 Broadway through the street-level entrance. A wheelchair-accessible ramp is available at the entrance for easy access. Once inside, an elevator services all floors, including the fourth floor where Onassis ONX is located. ADA-compliant restrooms with ramp access are available onsite. Service animals are welcome at Onassis ONX. Please notify an Onassis ONX employee and ensure that service animals are appropriately trained and remain under control at all times. For questions or to request additional accommodations, please contact contact@onx.studio, with subject line ADA Access, at least 72 hours before your visit.